Free Getting Wet by Zenina Masters
Authors: Zenina Masters
Chapter One
Augusta sat in the back of the strip club and tried to think of the nine million places she would rather be. Bekka was enjoying her bachelorette to the hilt, and Augusta was caught in the awkward position of staring and trying not to look at the same time.
A scantily clad human came by with her drink, and Augusta sipped at it, focusing in on the bubbles that rose and burst on the surface.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
A low voice spoke next to her, and she jerked upright as she saw a man who was completely dressed in a white button-down shirt and low-slung jeans, crouching next to her. He had a bright grin, and it told her that he had spied her discomfort. The leather mask he was wearing made him more charming and slightly dangerous.
“I am having fun supporting my friend. She is enjoying the event.” She tried to make light of it, but she was squirming in her seat. She waved at the stage with one hand.
Bekka was up on stage riding one of the dancers and stuffing bills down the waistband of another.
“I see. She does look like she is having a good time.”
Augusta smiled at the wariness in his tone. “Yes, she does.”
With Leyline’s baby shower, Rayna’s reception and now Bekka’s bachelorette, Augusta was feeling very much the odd man out. The worst part seemed to be that her family expected her to live life alone.
Even Rayna was pressured to find a mate of her own, but no one asked Augusta what she wanted. It was a little disheartening to say the least.
“You seem like you would rather be elsewhere.” He cocked his head as if listening to the world around him.
His motion made her blink. She opened up her senses, and under the heavy perfume was the distinct scent of male shifter. He was gorgeous to start off with, but now, he was highly desirable.
“Sliding into a nice pond would be good.”
He jerked, and his head turned around just as the announcer called out for the ladies to applaud for the Handiest Man Alive.
He met her gaze for a moment before his music picked up, and he was forced to strut to the stage to the hoots and cries of dozens of women cheering for him to take it off.
Augusta had met a man she could actually fall for and he was peeling his clothing off one piece at a time. She stared into her soda with intense focus and wished for this night to be over.
* * * *
Randal finished his set, cleared up the money and headed backstage. He was in no mood for lap dances tonight, and his cousin had only asked him to fill in the set, not to circulate with the ladies.
Once he was back where he couldn’t be seen, he looked for the woman who had stared at him with such loneliness that his heart had ached. She hadn’t stared at him like he was a piece of meat, but rather, she had seen him. The real him. She had known that he was a shifter and tipped her hand that she was one, too.
From behind the curtain, he looked out over the crowd for that woman, but she was gone. For one moment, his soul had clicked with a stranger and she was gone. Randal knew only one thing in that moment. He was going to find her.
The Hard Wood Lounge was a popular place and there had been over two hundred women through the door that night. Once his cousin knew what he was looking for, she assisted with reservation and booking information but that only took care of half the women. The others were all impulse visits by parties who made a quick stop before they continued on their way. He had his work cut out for him, but being a beaver, work was what he did best.
His woman with sad, dark eyes would be his. He knew it in every follicle of fur on his back.
“Any progress on your hunt?” Tisha, the owner of the Hard Wood Lounge, sat across from him in the spare seat at her desk.
“No. I know she was a shifter and she was here with friends, not family. That makes it exponentially harder, Cuz.” Randal sat back and steepled his fingers together.
“If it has struck you like this, you
Augusta sat in the back of the strip club and tried to think of the nine million places she would rather be. Bekka was enjoying her bachelorette to the hilt, and Augusta was caught in the awkward position of staring and trying not to look at the same time.
A scantily clad human came by with her drink, and Augusta sipped at it, focusing in on the bubbles that rose and burst on the surface.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
A low voice spoke next to her, and she jerked upright as she saw a man who was completely dressed in a white button-down shirt and low-slung jeans, crouching next to her. He had a bright grin, and it told her that he had spied her discomfort. The leather mask he was wearing made him more charming and slightly dangerous.
“I am having fun supporting my friend. She is enjoying the event.” She tried to make light of it, but she was squirming in her seat. She waved at the stage with one hand.
Bekka was up on stage riding one of the dancers and stuffing bills down the waistband of another.
“I see. She does look like she is having a good time.”
Augusta smiled at the wariness in his tone. “Yes, she does.”
With Leyline’s baby shower, Rayna’s reception and now Bekka’s bachelorette, Augusta was feeling very much the odd man out. The worst part seemed to be that her family expected her to live life alone.
Even Rayna was pressured to find a mate of her own, but no one asked Augusta what she wanted. It was a little disheartening to say the least.
“You seem like you would rather be elsewhere.” He cocked his head as if listening to the world around him.
His motion made her blink. She opened up her senses, and under the heavy perfume was the distinct scent of male shifter. He was gorgeous to start off with, but now, he was highly desirable.
“Sliding into a nice pond would be good.”
He jerked, and his head turned around just as the announcer called out for the ladies to applaud for the Handiest Man Alive.
He met her gaze for a moment before his music picked up, and he was forced to strut to the stage to the hoots and cries of dozens of women cheering for him to take it off.
Augusta had met a man she could actually fall for and he was peeling his clothing off one piece at a time. She stared into her soda with intense focus and wished for this night to be over.
* * * *
Randal finished his set, cleared up the money and headed backstage. He was in no mood for lap dances tonight, and his cousin had only asked him to fill in the set, not to circulate with the ladies.
Once he was back where he couldn’t be seen, he looked for the woman who had stared at him with such loneliness that his heart had ached. She hadn’t stared at him like he was a piece of meat, but rather, she had seen him. The real him. She had known that he was a shifter and tipped her hand that she was one, too.
From behind the curtain, he looked out over the crowd for that woman, but she was gone. For one moment, his soul had clicked with a stranger and she was gone. Randal knew only one thing in that moment. He was going to find her.
The Hard Wood Lounge was a popular place and there had been over two hundred women through the door that night. Once his cousin knew what he was looking for, she assisted with reservation and booking information but that only took care of half the women. The others were all impulse visits by parties who made a quick stop before they continued on their way. He had his work cut out for him, but being a beaver, work was what he did best.
His woman with sad, dark eyes would be his. He knew it in every follicle of fur on his back.
“Any progress on your hunt?” Tisha, the owner of the Hard Wood Lounge, sat across from him in the spare seat at her desk.
“No. I know she was a shifter and she was here with friends, not family. That makes it exponentially harder, Cuz.” Randal sat back and steepled his fingers together.
“If it has struck you like this, you